The history of Stapleford
Patent leather is ordinary leather which has undergone a final process to give it a shiny reflective surface. It is so called because this final stage is protected by a patent. It is sometimes called enamelled leather because the shiny finish resembles enamel.
The Astra Enamelling Co. operated in Stapleford from 1914 to 1924 in the old Vinegar Brewery buildings on Nottingham Road. It was set up by William George Chapman, a leather merchant from Leicester.
In May 1914 a company was registered [1] to acquire and turn to account any invention or process for the manufacture of leather or leather goods.
The capital was £10,000 in £1 shares of which 6,000 were 6% participating preference shares.
The subscribers were S W Gibbons, a contractor, and W G Chapman, a leather manufacturer from Leicester.
The directors of the company were Gibbons and Chapman together with D W Norman-Bott. [2]
The assistant manager of the factory was Frederick Hardy Cobbold, who married Doris, the Chapman’s daughter, in July 1920. [3]
It was Chapman who supplied the technical expertise. He had secured an option on a method for producing patent leather while on the continent which produced a finished article superior to that turned out by other processes. Goods that were hitherto exclusively made in Germany and Austria were now made in Stapleford.
A number of structural alterations had to be made to the old brewery buildings and when these were finished it was hoped to increase the number of employees to one hundred by October 1914.
The factory was described as airy and well lit. [4]
A mortgage was taken out on 18th July 1914 to secure £1,000 charged on land and premises in Stapleford. The holder was S W Gibbons, one of the original subscribers. [5]
Management /worker relationships were of a very cordial nature. One newspaper report at the time of the annual social described them as “a happy and contented family.”
Some difficulties were experienced in the running of the company. There was a reorganisation of capital in 1919 [6] and it was not until 1920 that the company could report that “we have now overcome all the practical difficulties in making patent leather.” [7]
It was not enough to save the company, perhaps German exports were coming back into the market,
and in 1924 the company was put into liquidation by order of the debenture holders.
The equipment was sold on 17 March 1924 [8] and the premises were put up for sale on 12 March 1924 but were withdrawn at £2,930. [9]
The company was struck off in January 1932. [10]
William George Chapman was born in Kennington, London, on 9th February 1865. [11] His father was William Chapman, a commercial traveller in the leather trade. In 1871 they were living in Rotherhithe. [12] By 1881 they had moved to Leicester where William was described as a merchant. [13] William George, aged 16, was still living at home. William George married Elizabeth Ellen and in 1891 they were living in Leicester, where he was working as a tanner and currier. [14] In 1898 a daughter, Doris, was born and in 1901 they were living on Glenfield Road, Leicester, where he was described as a leather merchant and employer. [15] In 1911 they had moved to Finchley, London, where William George was working as a traveller in the leather trade. In 1921 he was living on Nottingham Road, Stapleford in the house attached to the works. He gave as his occupation manager of a patent leather factory. Also living in the house was his wife, Elizabeth Ellen, and his daughter Doris and her husband Frederick Hardy Cobbold, who was the assistant manager of the factory. [16] Elizabeth Ellen died in December 1943 at her daughter’s house in Stamford. Her estate was valued at £2,820 and probate was granted to her husband. [17] William George died in August 1947, also in Stamford. His estate was valued at £7,008 and probate was granted to his daughter, Doris Cobbold, who was by then a widow. [18]
Chapman played an active part in the social life of Stapleford whilst he was manager of Astra. He was much in demand as a speaker and as a chairman of meetings and very active in the Stapleford branch of the League of Nations Union. He was a member of the influential Wednesday Club and took part in amateur dramatics.
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